Focaccina with Roasted Garlic, Scallions and Provolone Recipe

Focaccina with Roasted Garlic, Scallions and Provolone Recipe

  • Pizza Dough
  • ½ to 2/3 cup roasted garlic paste (see sidebar)
  • 2 cups grated young or semi-soft provolone
  • 1½ tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
  1. Preheat a gas grill or prepare a fire in a charcoal grill.
  2. Divide the dough into 2 pieces. Using a floured rolling pin, roll each piece out to a rough rectangular shape about 12 inches long, 6 to 7 inches wide, and ¼ inch thick.
  3. Carefully place one piece of dough on the hottest part of the grill. Cook until the bottom is light golden brown, about 2 minutes. Use tongs or a spatula to flip the dough over and cook on the other side in the same way. Transfer to a cutting board and let stand for 2 minutes. Repeat with the second piece of dough.
  4. Use a serrated knife to cut each focaccina horizontally in half: hold the top of the bread with your non-cutting hand, maintaining consistent pressure as you cut it into two even halves. Smear the garlic paste over the top halves of the bread and divide the provolone between the bottoms. Sprinkle the rosemary over the garlic halves, and sprinkle the scallions over the cheese halves. Close the focaccine and wrap each one tightly in foil. Grill the sammies, turning once, until they are hot and the cheese is melting, 5 to 6 minutes. Unwrap, cut into 1½-inch-wide strips with the serrated knife, and serve.
  5. Roasted garlic:
  6. Roasted garlic is delicious, mild and almost sweet. Choose large heads with big, plump cloves; smaller heads with small cloves are tedious to deal with. A very large head will yield 3 to 4 tablespoons roasted garlic puree.
  7. To roast garlic, preheat the oven to 350°F. Slice off the top 1/3 inch or so of each garlic head, exposing the cloves. Wrap the garlic heads individually in foil and roast for about 1 hour, until the cloves are very soft. Let cool, still wrapped in the foil, then remove from the foil and squeeze out the soft garlic from the skins and put it in a bowl. Using a fork, mash the garlic to a puree. (The garlic puree can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 day; bring to room temperature before using.)